Very overlooked detail that could catch us off guard.

[Your Friend]

  So I've decided to get into mining with a couple of decent laptops and they're downloading the blocks of transaction history now, thing is, it says 134,813 blocks of 208,537 blocks downloaded, now remember there's only going to be 21 million bit coins unless they add more or do something to increase coin capacity, n there's 50 coins paid per block solved... 

   208,537  ---  (total blocks)
  x       50  ---  (bit coins paid per block)
   {equals}
_________

10,426,850 bit coins

that's almost half of the bit coins, and judging by some of these $30,000 gpu's built specifically for bit coin mining that put out forgot how many ghz (but it's alot), that people are preordering that release next month, thinking they'll be able to mine to their hearts content, and the current amount of mining farms constantly being upgraded with higher end gear, along with people pouring into bit coin mining because of the success of bit coin mining, I'd say we got 2 to 4 months tops to do something about the 21 million bit coin cap.  I always pondered why there was a cap, and the only reason I can conjure up based on the fact that the world turns for money, there will be another system fired up and ready to go with no cap, similar to bit coin programs, that is probably already developed, but ya save your mining gear cause there's just too much money in mining for something like bit coin to lose value, and we already know people aren't going to do anything about it or laws would have already been passed.  I'd give it 3 months to get in full gear then start mining, mind you, there could be several bit coin program clones along with the first alternative.  That's why I'm waiting 3 months for them to show their true colors.  Anyways just a suggestion if people want to keep the system alive I suggest you figure out a way to increase the cap without inflation hapening and all the other things that make bubbles go pop.  If anyone needs an extra idealist and programmer on the team to create a system that won't pop, feel free to pm me, although i haven't really pondered much as I have been developing a  self reliant renewable energy source and machine that uses hydrogen, and really it's a no brainer, just increase the cap!  We're half way there! !  Man the cap torpedos  ! 

[AndrewBUD]

Not all blocks contain 50 bitcoins... Couple days it will be 25 bitcoins per block... after so many more mined blocks it will half the reward again...

[adamstgBit]

Not all blocks contain 50 bitcoins... Couple days it will be 25 bitcoins per block... after so many more mined blocks it will half the reward again...

all blocks contain more then 50 bitcoins, because of tx fees  

now i'm wondering wats the avg tx fee per block

[AndrewBUD]

right but the reward. OP is claiming that the majority of coins will be mined in a very short amount of time because of ASIC's or whaetver.


meh.

[jomplox]

I'm worried about this aspect as well. My hope is that an ever increasing amount of fees per transaction and the rising value of coins can effectively compensate for the halving of blocks.

[DannyHamilton]

. . . I'd say we got 2 to 4 months tops to do something about the 21 million bit coin cap. . .

That's not how bitcoin works.  You miht want to learn a bit more about it before offering an opinion.  Opinions based on fact can be useful and spark interesting conversation, opinions based on wild uneducated speculation tend to be rather ridiculous.

In this particular case, you need to understand that no matter how much mining power gets added to the network, blocks take on average a bit less than 10 minutes to "mine".  If more processing is added, then the network increases the difficulty to increase the time back up to 10 minutes.  If people start shutting down their miners due to lack of profitablility, then the network decreases the difficulty to decrease the time back down to 10 minutes.

The blocks are 50 BTC each for the first 4 years, then 25 BTC each for the next 4 years, then 12.5 BTC each for the next 4 years, then 6.25 BTC, then 3.125, etc. So bitcoin was designed to mine the first half of the coins in the first 4 years, then the next quarter, in the next 4 years, then the next eighth in the next 4 years and so on for well over 100 years.

. . . Anyways just a suggestion if people want to keep the system alive I suggest you figure out a way to increase the cap. . .

That won't happen anytime soon. I suspect it won't happen ever, and if it somehow does then I wouldn't expect it in my lifetime. There may be other coin types that have no cap, but if you get rid of the cap, you can't really consider it bitcoin any longer. The cap is an intrinsic part of what bitcoin is.

. . .If anyone needs an extra idealist and programmer on the team to create a system that won't pop, feel free to pm me. . .

Your lack of logical and analytical thought doesn't really instill a lot of confidence in my regarding your skills as a programmer.

. . . I have been developing a  self reliant renewable energy source and machine that uses hydrogen. . .

Well, I suppose that is rather vague and could mean a lot of things, but my first impression is that you may need to spend some time studying the laws of thermodynamics.

Hmm, as I type that last sentence, I suddenly come to wonder if I'm just responding to a troll.  I hate when I do that.

[Danijel Habek]

Our friend needs to read moar, especially if he just dove in mining with few decent notebooks.
Just sayin.

[DeathAndTaxes]

You do know that difficulty adjusts to keep the rate of blocks at ~ 1 per 10 minutes over the long run?   It will be over 130 years before all coins are mined.  Hell it will be over 10 years before 90% of the coins are mined.  In the short run (say 1000 or so blocks) miners can mine faster than the generation rate but difficulty soon catches up and over the long run generation rate will be very close to 52,560 blocks per year regardless of what the hash rate is.

[BitcoinCoffee.com]

read moar

Not so sure if serious...

[Danijel Habek]

read moar

Not so sure if serious...

Totally, a lot moar.

[smickles]

lol

[thebaron]

For God's sake, learn how to write properly.

[odolvlobo]

 So I've decided to get into mining with a couple of decent laptops

I hope you didn't buy the laptops with the intention of using them to mine. You won't even make enough BTC to pay for the electricity, and there is a chance that unless they are more than just "decent", your laptops won't earn any BTC at all.

I have been developing a  self reliant renewable energy source and machine that uses hydrogen

I hope you aren't one of those people that claim to be able to use water as fuel (by burning it).

[Foxpup]

  So I've decided to get into mining with a couple of decent laptops and they're downloading the blocks of transaction history now, thing is, it says 134,813 blocks of 208,537 blocks downloaded, now remember there's only going to be 21 million bit coins unless they add more or do something to increase coin capacity, n there's 50 coins paid per block solved... 

   208,537  ---  (total blocks)
  x       50  ---  (bit coins paid per block)
   {equals}
_________

10,426,850 bit coins

that's almost half of the bit coins, and judging by some of these $30,000 gpu's built specifically for bit coin mining that put out forgot how many ghz (but it's alot), that people are preordering that release next month, thinking they'll be able to mine to their hearts content, and the current amount of mining farms constantly being upgraded with higher end gear, along with people pouring into bit coin mining because of the success of bit coin mining, I'd say we got 2 to 4 months tops to do something about the 21 million bit coin cap.

Go read about difficulty and Bitcoin's currency supply, and come back when you understand why the cap won't be reached until the year 2140 (which is slightly more than "2 to 4 months" away).

Anyways just a suggestion if people want to keep the system alive I suggest you figure out a way to increase the cap without inflation hapening and all the other things that make bubbles go pop.

Impossible. Increasing the cap on the money supply is the very definition of inflation, and a fixed cap is the only way to stop inflation happening, by definition. Limiting inflation is whole reason bitcoin production is capped in the first place.

I have been developing a  self reliant renewable energy source and machine that uses hydrogen

That's an oxymoron, since not only is hydrogen not renewable, it doesn't even exist in a form usable as an energy source anywhere on Earth. (There are oil wells and natural gas wells and water wells, but there ain't no such thing as a hydrogen well (and even if there were, it's not renewable). And producing hydrogen from any source other than a non-existent hydrogen well requires more energy than you would get by burning the hydrogen.)

Unless, of course, you're talking about a "self reliant renewable energy source" and "machine that uses hydrogen" as two completely different things, though the former is impossible and the latter is not very impressive as we already have several such machines.

[greyhawk]

For God's sake, learn how to write properly.

right moar?

[MoonShadow]

Atlas?

[greyhawk]

Atlas?

Nah. Atlas uses periods.

[DeathAndTaxes]

Atlas?

Nah. Atlas uses periods.

Yeah and Atlas trolling was more on the "meta" level (the theoretical risks of this, the danger of that person being the lead developer, the conflict of interest in the Foundation, etc).   To his (small) credit Atlas showed enough technical knowledge to avoid mistakes like this.

No the OP is a "sub-Atlas troll". 

[greyhawk]

Atlas?

Nah. Atlas uses periods.

Yeah and Atlas trolling was more on the "meta" level (the theoretical risks of this, the danger of that person being the lead developer, the conflict of interest in the Foundation, etc).   To his (small) credit Atlas showed enough technical knowledge to avoid mistakes like this.

No the OP is a "sub-Atlas troll". 

I liked this incarnation of Atlas: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=124125.0

Always bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders, even if it means to win a Wikipedia edit war by thievery.

[MoonShadow]

Atlas?

Nah. Atlas uses periods.

Maybe he's deliberately changing his MO so he isn't caught so quick.